Brahmâ

Brahmâ is the creative god of the Hindouisme, the first member of the Trimurti, the trinity of the major Hindu deities (all hatched of a egg), the other members being Vishnou and Shiva. Sarasvatî is its Shakti, its energy, his wife. Its mounting Vâhana is a Hamsa, a goose or a swan. Its color is the red. It is not mentioned in the Veda (not like Brahmâ, but like Prajâpati ), nor in the Brâhmana, but it is however very present in the Mahâbhârata, the Râmâyana and the Purâna.

Brahmâ intervenes only in an occasional way in the businesses of the gods, and even more rarely in those of the mortals. He is regarded as the father of Dharma and Atri. Brahmâ lives with Brahmapura, a city located on the Mont Meru.

Its hard life one hundred of its years, each one of it being worth 2  160 million years of the mortals ( to see vedic Measurement of time ). Brahmâ is an agent of the Brahman, the Supreme “Oneself” of the hindouism.

This god is a deus otiosus : although being the creator of all things, there is one temple being completely dedicated him, with Pushkar with the the Rajasthan.

Representation

It is traditionally represented with four heads and four arms. Each one of its heads recites one of the four Veda. Often, the low-reliefs account for only three of them, the legend saying that Shiva would have cut one from there to him. Its hands hold:
  • a nozzle pot used to create the life,
  • a Mâlâ to measure the time of the universe,
  • the text of the Veda and
  • a flower of lotus.

Its four heads are explained by the following legend: when it was creating the universe, Brahmâ generated a named female deity Shatarûpa, that with the hundred superb forms. Brahmâ fell immediately in love from there. Shatarûpa moved then in many directions to avoid the glance insisting of Brahmâ. But, where that it went, Brahmâ created for itself a head to be able to continue to see it. At the end, it had five of them, for each cardinal direction and to look at above.

In goal to control god, Shiva crossed head higher, but when he learned that Shatarûpa was the girl of Brahmâ, he decided that it was improper for him to be obsessed about it and issued that it would not take place there where it would be venerated. Indeed, only Vishnou - or its misadventures - and Shiva continues to be venerated whereas Brahmâ is almost ignored; he has only one temple with him dedicated, in Pushkar. Since this incident, Brahmâ recites the four Veda in penitence.

Epithets of Brahmâ

Brahmâ is very often called " the incommensurable" , " the lord of all créatures" , " the author of the four books of Veda" , " the navel of Vishnu" , " the god ascète" , " the creator of the four mondes" , " the good créateur" and especially " the creative god of the hindouisme".

Buddhist Brahmā

In the Buddhism, Brahmā is not regarded the creator of the world but as the king of the gods; it is, like any creature apart from the Bouddha S and of the Arhat, subjected to the cycle of the Samsara.

It intervenes however on several occasions. In particular, Shakyamuni, after having reached the illumination, the awakening, hesitates to teach in the world so subtle doctrines. Brahmā intervenes then to convince it to teach, since some will be enough wise to include/understand such a teaching.

Simple: Brahma

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